Prior to China's joining the
World Trade Organization, certain obligations were required to meet the
entry requirements. One of these requirements was to effectively curtail
the use of illegal software, the majority of which is Microsoft based.
Having now started to put this stipulation into action, the Redmond-based
software giant could now end up being the biggest loser.

In December, the Beijing municipal government awarded contracts to six local
software vendors. One of the winners was Linux OS developer Red Flag.
A seventh vendor was rejected - Microsoft. No doubt, the reasons for this
decision were cost, avoiding dependency on Microsoft, and furthering the
goal of developing China's own software industry.

In Pakistan, Linux is also growing rapidly. The government there cannot
afford to upgrade its Windows based servers, so it too is now switching to Open
Source operating systems. Like China, pirated Microsoft-based software is
currently in the majority. Since Pakistan wants to become legitimate as
well, Linux is the only cost effective way to go.

If this trend becomes typical in the developing world, Microsoft could end up
losing these very important emerging markets to Linux.